"Pieces of the Island"-An English Translation

Consequences of police violence in Sagua la Grande, Cuba (Images)

On August 20th 2013, the political police organized and carried out an act of repudiation against dissident Didier Martinez, surrounding his home in Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara, where he was with his family, among them his wife and underage child, as well as other activists. The mob – made up by police officials dressed in civilian clothing and other people who have obligations with the dictatorship – not only shouted obscene words to the dissidents, but also damaged the house and eventually beat those present.

This audio published by ‘Radio Repubica’ captures the testimony of Luis Enrique Monzon Rivero, one of the activists of the Central Opposition Coalition who was in the house. Monzon denounces that the agents were using a mysterious liquid in an attempt to burn down the door of the house and also began to throw rocks. They were armed with sticks and machetes. The repudiation lasted various hours and only ended for a short while, seeing as on the following day – August 21st – another one was carried out, according to statements by former political prisoner Librado Linares Garcia on his Twitter account (@LibradoLinares).

Linares sent out another message on the 22nd explaining that “at 1:30 AM, they threw 4 pieces of metal at Didier’s house, damaging it. His small child was terrorized”.

The violence worsened on the 23rd. Librado tweeted, “Didier Martinez and his wife Natali were savagely beat by 2 State Security agents”. Their son, who is only 3 years old, witnessed the whole thing.

However, Linares Garcia said that the everyday people “showed solidarity with the repressed” and “repudiated the repressors”.

Now, photos have arrived straight from the island showing the scars left on Didier’s body by a system which does tolerate the diversity of ideas (courtesy of activist Niurcy Acosta Pacheco). See them for yourselves: